The Pros and The Cons
by Autumn Rayne
Summary: Kate weighs the pros and the cons, and comes to an interesting conclusion.


**a/n: **Too little sleep and too much Coke (the drink) make a crazy one-shot.

**The Pros and The Cons**

"Leo?" Kate called, poking her head from her office door. "Do you have a moment? I need your help."

"You need _my _help?" he asked with a smile. "I feel pretty special."

"You should," she smiled back. He followed her into the office, waiting patiently as she closed the door behind them. She grabbed a legal pad and a pen from her desk and moved to the couch. "Have a seat," she said, patting the cushion next to her.

"What are you working on?" he asked as he sat.

"Well," she started, releasing a breath. "I was told that putting the pros in one column and the cons in another would aid in making a decision."

"So this must be a sticky mediation," Leo nodded.

"It's...it's not _exactly_ a...a mediation." He raised an eyebrow at her then reached for her legal pad.

"Ben and Justin," he read, dropping his shoulders. He tilted his head to the side and regarded Kate with a long look. "I thought we had a line, Kate. You know, between girlfriend and sleepovers."

"Leo, please? It would mean the world to me." He shook his head and set the pad on the table.

"Sorry. You know I love you, but this is a little much." He stood and moved to the door, stopping when he heard a rattle. "No, Kate," he said over his shoulder.

"Yes, Leo." He heard the rattle again and turned to look at her. He eyed the brightly colored box in her hands.

"Are those...?" He pointed to the box. She raised her eyebrows and nodded.

"Rainbow Nerds," she taunted. "Your favorite."

"Oh, Kate," he whined. "All right." He returned to the couch and took the box she offered.

"You're like a kid in a candy store, Sweetie."

"Look at your desk, Kate." Leo opened the box and dumped a pile of Nerds in his palm. "Your office practically _is_ a candy store." He filtered the handful of Nerds into his mouth. "Okay, so what are we doing and why?"

"I need to sort out this whole thing with Justin and Ben."

"You know this is a very bad idea, right? I mean..." He gave her a serious look. "The heart wants what the heart wants, Kate. And most of the time, it's not the one that looks good on paper."

"We'll see, won't we?"

"I guess. So, where do you start?" Kate smiled as Leo lifted the box to his mouth, pouring another handful of the small candies past his lips.

"Well, how about looks?"

"Yes," he started with a strong lisp and a slightly higher-pitched voice. "Which one do you think has the cutest butt?"

"That's not exactly what I meant," Kate laughed. "But, since you asked...Ben?"

"Are you asking me or telling me?"

"Telling you?"

"Ha ha. Okay, seriously. If you didn't know either man, and you had to pick one out of a line up, which one would it be?"

"I don't know. Overall, they are both attractive men."

"Like me," he smiled. "Break it down into traits," he suggested. "Eyes?"

"I really like Justin's eyes. They are a beautiful shade of blue." Kate chewed on the top of her pen. "But, Ben's eyes...they're brown."

"Like mine," he said around a mouthful of crunch.

"Oh, and they are so soft."

"So the eyes don't have it. No one gets points for ties."

"No." She leaned back into the cushions. "They both have a nice build," she offered. Leo rolled his eyes and muttered something under his breath. Kate reached for the box of Nerds.

"No, no," he said, pulling away from her. "They both have a nice build," he repeated. She gently squeezed his upper arm.

"Just like you," she smiled.

"Now you're just sucking up. Once again, no points for ties." He turned to square his body with hers. "What about the less...trite things? What did Justin do for your birthday?"

"Oh, well, he was knee-deep in a very tough case. But he sent me flowers."

"Okay. And what did Ben do?"

"Nothing." She shook her head. "I don't think Ben knows when my birthday is."

"So Ben doesn't know and Justin sent you flowers."

"They weren't as nice as the ones you sent me," she smiled softly. "You remembered that orange roses are my favorite."

"Yeah, I did, didn't I?" he smiled proudly.

"But, Ben didn't know it was my birthday, so I don't think we can count that question."

"Okay. How about coffee? The last time you had a cup of coffee with either man, did you have to order it yourself or did they order it for you?" Kate pursed her lips as she pondered the question.

"Well, Ben brought me a bottom-of-the-pot cup of coffee from the break room. But he didn't ask how I take my coffee. He remembered that I like it with sugar. Justin bought me a cup from the coffee cart in the lobby of the courthouse. But I had to tell the vendor what I wanted." He snatched the pen from her hand and made a tick mark in the column labeled 'Ben'.

"One point for Team Ben."

"You always have coffee waiting for me," she said. She took the pen and made a third column; writing 'Leo' across the top. "One for you, too."

"Two for me. The flowers, remember?"

"Ooh, right." She made a second mark in his column. "And one for the nice build. And one for the beautiful brown eyes."

"Nice," he smiled. "And being attractive?"

"Absolutely."

"What about last week when you were so crabby?"

"I wasn't crabby." Kate rolled her eyes. "Okay, I _was _crabby. Justin treated me to lunch. It was nice until some of his supporters dropped by to talk about the vote."

"What did Ben do?"

"He picked on me until I ended up in a worse mood."

"That sounds about right," he nodded. "So, one for Justin?"

"No. One for Ben." Leo gave Kate a questioning look. "I needed the distraction," she said, absently waving her hand. "It worked."

"Okay, one for Ben."

"'Course, I needed the hug you gave me, too."

"And one more point for me," he smiled widely. "I like this game." He sat back on the couch. "Ben seems to put up with your off the wall theories more than Justin does."

"Oh, that's just because Ben enjoys watching everything go wrong."

"That's why he's so willing to drive you around?" Kate nodded. "Well, I think the putting up with you part deserves at least two points."

"You're so funny, Leonardo."

"And one point for the driving. Do I get a point for driving you around, too?"

"Sure. Yeah. Actually, you should get two. You've been doing that for a while now." She leaned over his arm, tallying the marks under his name. "That makes...eight points for the Leo-miester."

"All right, what's next?"

"Smarts?" Kate scrunched her face. "No points for ties."

"There's not tie. Neither one of them beats me in that category." He put another mark under his name. "What else have you got?"

"Ugh, nicknames. I _hate_ it when Ben calls me 'Katie'." He turned to her and smiled.

"You don't hate it. You _love _it and you know it. _And,_ you like fighting with him, too."

"I do _not_ like fighting with Ben. He's just so…so…damned irritating sometimes."

"Again, you love it and you know it. Don't think I don't see that little satisfied smile on your face after the two of you duke it out in front of my desk." He put two marks in Ben's column. "It's like some strange type of foreplay for the two of you."

"Leo!" she exclaimed, smacking his arm. "Don't say that kind of thing. That's naughty," she whispered.

"Maybe. But it's so much fun to watch." His eyes widened. "That's not...that's not what I meant."

"I think that's _exactly _what you meant," she accused playfully. "I should take away a point for that."

"No way." He moved the pad out of her reach. "I worked hard for those points."

"How about first kiss?" she asked.

"How about ick?"

"The first time I kissed Justin…it was sweet and nice. When Ben kissed me...It was just such a surprise and..." She sighed contently, giving into the memory.

"I'll just give the point to Ben," he said with a roll of his eyes. Kate snapped her fingers and pointed at him.

"Ben and Justin don't let me play with the fun things they have on their desks _or_ in their offices," she stated.

"But I do," Leo laughed.

"And you share my candy with me."

"Unlike Justin, who doesn't eat it at all and Ben, who steals the entire bowl for _his _office." She nodded and laughed. Kate startled at the soft buzz from her phone. She picked it up off the table and read the display.

"Oh, hold on. It's Justin. Hello," she greeted happily. "No, it's all right." Leo watched Kate's smile slowly fade. "Of course I understand. Okay. Yeah. Yep, next time. Bye." She smiled sadly and set the phone on the coffee table. "He cancelled dinner." She stared at her phone and bit her bottom lip. "Ben never cancels his dinners with me."

"So maybe _you_ shouldn't cancel your dinners with _him_," he mumbled jokingly. "One last point for Ben. Add 'em up, Lady." He handed the pad to Kate and moved to the desk to throw the now empty box of Nerds in the trash can.

"Leo?"

"What?"

"According to this, I should go out with _you_."

"Really?" he smiled.

"Yeah. Justin...well, Justin didn't get any. No points for ties. Ben has nine and you have eleven."

"You could do a lot worse," he joked, running a hand along his hair.

"Hey," Ben greeted, opening the door and taking a step into the office. "You and Leo working hard in here?"

"Uh, yeah. He's-he's great when it comes to…bouncing around ideas."

"The bouncing only happens because she feeds me lots of sugar." Leo smiled and left the room, returning to his desk. Kate moved to her own desk, quickly stuffing the legal pad in a drawer.

"What brings you by?"

"I won my case," Ben smiled.

"Yea," she smiled back, clapping the tips of her fingers. "Good for you!"

"But I have a problem."

"Oh?"

"I have no one to celebrate with me." He looked at Kate, feigning a pout.

"Benedict," she pouted in return. "No one's willing to share a ridiculously expensive bottle of wine with you?"

"Well, truth told, I haven't yet asked anyone." He offered a lopsided smile. "I was hoping I could talk you into accompanying me. Unless you're...busy." Kate caught the slight falter in his smile.

"I'm not...I'm not busy." She grabbed her purse and her coat from the back of chair and snatched her phone from the table. "I would love to celebrate with you."

"You've made my day, Katie." He took her coat, holding it up so she could slip her arms into the sleeves. He offered his arm, Kate accepting with a smile. "We're headed out for the night, Leo," Ben said as they stopped in front of his desk.

"Aw, you two kids behave yourselves," he said through his best stern old man voice. He looked at Kate and winked. As they walked through the reception area, Ben leaned into Kate's arm.

"What was that all about?" he asked.

"Uh, nothing. Just Leo being a smart ass." He nodded. The elevator doors opened and Ben placed his hand on the small of Kate's back as he guided her into the car. "Where are we headed?" she asked once the doors closed.

"I was thinking L'Amour De Ma Vie."

"Ah, yes," she smiled. "You and your love of nice things."

"Do you have another place in mind?" She shook her head. "Well, it wouldn't matter if you did," he teased. "Since I'm the one driving, you have no choice but to go where I'm headed." Kate placed her hands on Ben's shoulders, lifting herself on her toes to press a soft kiss on the corner of his mouth.

"Thank you for asking me to go with you."

"Thank you for saying 'yes'." He smiled gently as the doors opened, offering his arm again. As they left the building, Kate smiled inwardly. Leo had been right. The heart wants what the heart wants, and it's not always the one that looks good on paper.


End file.
